Family Matters
by Helen Pattskyn
Summary: Follows along my AU world, post DW finale; NO real spoilers. A surprise visitor shakes up Jack and Ianto's lives... EPILOGUE up. COMPLETE
1. A Mother's Love

**A/N**_**: (sorry the note is so long and the chapter is so short; that won't be the case usually... some of this is important)**_

_I'm posting this now even though__ I have __**Moving On**__ to finish and that is going to be the priority, but this story just refuses to go away. _

_It's not necessary to read **Moving On** before this if you just want to take it on faith that there are two new members of Torchwood, Bobby Chase (medic) and Wendy Shutten (lycanthrope). Wendy is mine, Bobby isn't. __**Everything**__ that I'm writing for Torchwood involves the same set of characters and same AU. Questions cheerfully answers, drop a private note if have one._

_**Setting:**_

_This takes place after __**Chapter 38**__ of my __**Short Stories**__ and after __**Moving On, **__but only contains __**only very minor spoilers**__ for the Doctor Who Season 4 Finale… if you've heard the rumours about who might be joining the cast for Torchwood Season 3, you already know the only thing that I would put under the category of "spoiler" here… _

_Torchwood and Doctor Who belong to the BBC, not me. I promise to put Jack and Ianto and the rest of the gang right back where I found them when I'm done. Chase isn't mine either… borrowed him from the guy who created House. I suppose I'll put him back where I found him when I'm done too… drat. I don't get to keep any of the pretty boys, do I?_

_As always, reviews are cherished._

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**Chapter One: A Mother's Love**

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"Someone's at the tourist office door!" Wendy hollered from her station. "Ianto… do you want me to get it?" she asked when he didn't immediately respond. He'd been in Jack's office for the last two hours. The door had been shut fifteen minutes after he'd gone in. "Sweetheart…? She called again.

Jack's office door opened up; Ianto emerged looking harried with his jacket removed and his shirt sleeves rolled up. Gwen and Mickey exchanged looks from the other side of the Hub, which the Welshman ignored.

"I've got it, thanks, Wen," Ianto said to her. Regardless of what anyone thought, he and Jack had been going over last month's financials.

"I hope that's dinner," Mickey commented. "Some of us prefer Chinese to American."

Gwen shot him a look, as if honesty unable to believe he'd just said that.

"There are plenty of Weevils to go around," Ianto reminded their newest member in a dry tone. "And not only do I know where you live, but Janet _almost_ likes me enough to go along quietly on a little ride to your bedroom closet."

"Oh you wouldn't…"

"Watch me."

It was all Gwen could do not to burst out laughing.

"There a problem out here?" Jack poked his head out of his office door.

"Not at all, Sir," Ianto smiled up at him. "We were just discussing the things Mickey keeps in his closet."

"Anything interesting?" Jack grinned back, joining the rest of them. Gwen was positively bursting at the seams.

Mickey went back to the computer program he'd been working on.

Jack meandered over and placed a hand on his back, "You know there's an old saying that closets are for hangers, so if there's anything you'd like to get _out_…" he smirked.

Ianto missed the rest of it as he jogged up the stairs and slipped into the office, opening the outer door without bothering to verify that it was really the delivery person. Who else would be here at six o'clock on a Sunday? The tourist office had been closed since four.

He was caught completely off guard by the fifty-something looking woman on the other side of the door. She was pointing a gun directly at his midsection.

"Erm…" he backed up slowly, hands raised, wondering if anyone downstairs was watching the security feed. "Can I … erm… help you…?" he asked.

She backed him into the shop without a word and closed the door behind them, locking it, carefully not taking her eyes off Ianto. Other than the gun, which he realized on closer inspection wasn't twenty first century, it looked like some sort of energy discharge weapon, the woman seemed ordinary. She had on jeans and a windbreaker and was of average height and weight; her short hair was brown but greying. Her features were weathered. Her gaze darted around the room, as if she was expecting something to happen.

"Ma'am?" he asked. So far it didn't appear as if a rescue party was on its way up the stairs.

"I'm here for my son," her accent was American. "I don't want to hurt anybody, but I will if you force me to." The gun seemed to hum a bit, as if charging up.

He nodded his understanding, however, "I'm afraid I don't know who you mean."

She raised the weapon, "Don't lie to me. I know this is Torchwood. I know you have him. I don't want to hurt anybody…please, I _**just **_want my son."

He swallowed nervously, recognizing the tone in her voice, mixed fear with rage. A mother's love was nothing to mess with. "Ma'am, I_ honestly_ don't know who you mean." He couldn't think of any Americans they had frozen in the crypt, or even any Americans they'd dealt with recently. "If you tell me who you're talking about…?" _then what?_

She gave him a long hard look, as if trying to make up her mind about something. Finally, she answered: "His name is Grey."


	2. Past and Present Collide

**Thank you **for the reviews! This is unbeta'd by the way, so all mistakes are mine. Hope you continue to enjoy…

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**Chapter Two:**** Past and Present Collide**

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For several long moments Ianto's world stood still and the only thing he could hear was the sound of his own heart beating madly in his ears. He swallowed. "Grey…" he recognized the sound of his voice but he had no clear recollection of opening his mouth and speaking.

"I _just _want my son," the woman repeated, her voice taking on an edge of desperation. "I know you have him here. Just let me take him home… I don't want to hurt you."

Bits of memory floated through Ianto's mind… Jack rarely spoke of either of his parents but there were a few things he could remember his Captain saying about the woman in front of him now. She was a marine biologist. She told Jack once that as long as he had something to hang onto, just one good thing, he could go on no matter what. Ianto also remembered thinking that he would have liked her and Jack agreeing.

"Please!" she raised the gun a threateningly, so that it was pointing directly at his head.

Ianto raised his hands a little higher out of instinct. He cleared his throat. "I believe you," he told her. "I know you don't want to hurt anybody."

She lowered the gun a little, although if she pulled the trigger, he wouldn't be any less dead.

"I'm going to pick up the phone," Ianto told her the calmest tone he could muster under the circumstances. He nodded to it on the desk, just to clarify. "And I'm going to call downstairs."

Her features tightened.

"You'll be able to hear everything I say. Ok?"

She nodded, although just barely.

With slow, careful movements, Ianto picked up the phone, keeping his other hand raised, and pushed the button for the extension on Jack's desk.

The Captain picked up in four rings, "What's taking so long with that Chinese? They didn't screw up our order again…"

"Jack," Ianto cut him off. "Would you look at the security feed from the tourist office, please?"

"What…?"

"Just… look."

On the other end Ianto heard a pause, probably Jack bringing up the image on one of the computer screens behind him… and then a clunk that he presumed was the receiver hitting the floor.

He turned back to the woman. "In a few seconds that wall behind you is going to slide open. You might want to step back."

She studied him for another long moment, probably trying to figure out if she should believe him, but then the wall slid open. She turned, but kept the gun trained on the man in front of her.

Jack took two steps forward before stopping. The gun moved from Ianto's direction to his. Her hands were shaking; the expression on her face was unreadable but he was pretty sure he still knew her well enough to recognize the hint of disbelief in her eyes. He had no idea how long it had been for her, along her personal timeline, but she didn't look much different than he thought he remembered her looking… then again, two thousand years along _his _personal timeline was an awfully long time to try and remember all the little details of another person's features, even his own mother's.

He swallowed back the lump in his throat and took another careful step forward – she raised the gun higher, the threat clear. He stopped. "Mom." He said in the most neutral tone he could manage.

She glanced quickly at Ianto but then returned her gaze to the man in front of her. "Jack, was it?" her tone was cold.

"Captain Jack Harkness."

"And Torchwood?" She inquired.

"My team. How'd you find out about us?"

"How do you think?"

"The Agency?"

She nodded. "They told me where I could find Grey. He's all I want. Let me have him and I'll leave you to whatever it is you do here."

To his credit, Jack's expression didn't falter. "How much do you know about what happened to him?"

"I know you have him here, in this time. I don't know why and I don't care. All I know is that you're holding him… you and this Torchwood," she glanced around the tourist office. "I know what he went through before he came here… I know who rescued him. I just had no idea… _you_… " even if Jack hadn't broken, it looked like she was about it. "Does your own flesh and blood _really_ mean nothing to you…Jack?" Several tears escaped her control.

He swore softly; leave it to the Time Agency to, very intentionally he was sure, leave out most of the facts. "Whatever the Agency told you… how did you even get here?" He asked suddenly, because if there was another Time Agent involved…

"Roan."

Jack paled visibly at the name. "Is he here?"

"He's dead. He died six months ago. Looking for your… for _my_ son. The only one I seem to have left."

He closed his eyes, pausing a moment. "I… I'm sorry, Mom. About Roan. I know you liked him."

She made a contemptuous sound, "One of us had to 'like' him. Before he died, he gave me this," she pulled a small round device out of the blazer pocket.

When Jack opened his eyes to see what she had, Ianto could see the tears glistening there, held back, but just barely.

"It's a little crude, but it got me where I needed to go," she went on.

He barely looked at the device. "What about Jason?"

"He's here. With me."

"_What? _Why would you bring…?_"_

"Crude and one way," she tossed the device at him. "The other thing Roan did before he died was ask me to take care of his son. _**I**_ don't run out on the people who need me."

Jack caught the device one handed and examined it as she spoke. He was just as glad to have something to look at besides either of the other people in the room because he was too afraid to meet Ianto's gaze and meeting his mother's hurt too much. "Ever circuit's fried out," he commented, although he suspected she knew that already.

"It was never meant to…" she glanced at Ianto again.

"Three thousand years was too much for it to handle," Jack finished the sentence for her. "I doubt we can help you fix it. In case you hadn't noticed, technology is a little lacking this century," his tone was almost scathing. "Even if I knew how, I don't have the equipment."

"I didn't come here looking for your help. I didn't even come here looking for_ you_."

Jack swallowed, but the knives dancing in his gut just kept on digging in. "How long has it been since… since we… since the last time you saw me?"

"You walked out on Roan and your son five years ago."

"Two of those years _weren't _my fault," he told her in a low, ragged tone, more afraid than ever to look in his partner's direction. They'd talked about Laura, about Estelle. Roan had never come up. He was in the past… the future. He was so far removed from this time and place that Jack had done a very good job of forgetting they'd ever been involved. He had been a different person back then. Maybe if he'd been more like the man he was now things would have been different…

"It doesn't matter," his mother's voice cut through his thoughts. "I only came for my son. Let me have him and I can promise you, you'll never me or him… or Jason… again. You can go back right back to your life as if I was never even here. That's what you want, isn't it?"

The words cut Jack to the core. Even worse was the answer he had no choice but to give her. "I'm sorry, but I can't let you have him. He… I can't," he knew he was losing the battle with the tears. He couldn't bear to tell her why he couldn't give Grey to her, but there was no way he could ever wake his brother up. John was right, there was no cure…

"I'm sorry, too," she raised the gun.

"Don't do it," Ianto's voice was almost as loud as the cocking of the pistol he kept in the drawer for emergencies.

"Ianto…" Jack breathed in disbelief. The younger man knew damned well that he wasn't in any danger.

The Welshman's face was set in a grim expression, his eyes locked on the woman's face. He held the muzzle of his gun just inches from her temple. "Drop your weapon, Ma'am." His tone was as dark as his expression.

She swallowed, defeated, and let Jack take the gun from her.

"I'm sorry," he told the older man, lowering the gun immediately. "But I wasn't going to let her shoot you." He was as afraid to meet Jack's gaze as Jack was to meet his. He simply slid the pistol's safety back into place and put the gun back in the drawer.

Jack nodded his acknowledgement of Ianto's statement, even though he doubted the other man noticed it. In front of him, his mother suddenly looked so much older than she really was.

He realized that if it had been five years for her, if their timelines were the same, he wouldn't even have met the Doctor and Rose yet. He would still be the man who walked out on everything… only two of those years _weren't _his fault and he'd never expected that his leaving had come as any shock to anyone, least of all Roan.

He glanced briefly in the younger man's direction, "Would you go downstairs and tell everybody I said to get out of here? Tell them to use the back door." His tone was colder than he meant it to be.

"Of course, Sir," Ianto nodded and started towards the still-open secret door.

"Ianto," Jack called after him, their eyes finally meeting. "You too."

He only barely faltered, closing his eyes for half a second longer than normal, but he refused to give in to the emotions churning in his gut. "I understand," his tone was as cool as Jack's.


	3. Shades of Grey

**Thank you **for the reviews and adding to favourite / alert lists!! Really glad folks are enjoying this… yes, it's a bit angsty at the moment…

This is unbeta'd by the way, so all mistakes are mine. Updates probably won't really happen this quickly all the time, I just had Muses on my head today ;-) (oh yeah, and housework I wanted to avoid!)

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**Chapter T****hree: Shades of Grey**

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No words were spoken between Jack and his mother for the ten or so minutes he figured it would take the rest of the team to make their exit up to the Plass. When he gestured towards the service hall, she didn't resist; she didn't even look at him.

He had both her gun and the handheld vortex manipulator – or at least that was the best name he could give to the fried out device she'd tossed his way. Deciding that there was something too awkward about standing in a lift with someone who only barely seemed to be speaking to him, Jack led the way down the stairs.

"Is he dead?" her voice was so quiet he almost missed it.

"No."

Her expression was impossible to read; they reached the last step.

"Welcome to Torchwood," he managed an almost light tone, as the cog door rolled aside. A moment later they were in the Hub, and Jack smelled the familiar scent of fresh coffee. _Ianto_. He must've put on a pot before he left. That fact made Jack's insides twist up even more.

He nodded for his mother to have a seat while he locked her gun in the armoury and then went to get them some coffee. What he was really hoping for, however, was some sort of indication that Ianto was going to forgive him.

The sticky-note on the front of the machine didn't give him much hope.

_Jack – _

_I put on a fresh pot before leaving. _

_It's not as strong as your usual 'industrial strength' brew, so it's safe to serve your mother._

The note was unsigned. That meant it was bad.

Ever since he'd started signing notes 'XO Jack', Ianto had started signing 'XO Ianto'. Sometimes he even got silly little hearts; they made him chuckle every time, even though for the life of him he didn't know why. But even in the worst of times, Ianto had always signed his name and given some indication that he'd be back later or would have his mobile on in case Jack needed him for something.

But even in the worst of times, Jack had never kicked him out, and it wasn't _just _the Hub anymore. Ianto lived here. It was his home, their home, only Jack hadn't been thinking about that when he asked the younger man to get out. All he could see was his mother in front of him. All he could think about was how he was going to convince her that Grey was really lost… she'd lost both her sons.

Ignoring the knives twisting in his gut, Jack poured a couple of cups of coffee and suddenly realized that he didn't remember how his mother took hers… he tried to recall, to bring up the last time they'd sat down and had a cup of coffee together… they had had a cup of coffee together, hadn't they? They must have. He was sure he could remember a time when they'd been close, a time before he joined the Time Agency…. "How do you take your coffee?" he was forced to ask at last.

"Same as always."

Jack leant back and looked at her. "I… don't remember."

"Just sugar," her tone was flat. "Two," she added, in the same dull tone.

He nodded and fixed their cups and joined her on the sofa near the coffee station.

"I assume it's not drugged." She took the cup from his hand.

"No, Mother," he sat down next to her. "It's not drugged."

She didn't seem particularly interested in the coffee anyway. He didn't really blame her. More uncomfortable silence fell between them.

"What now?" she asked finally. "If he's still alive…?" she looked around expectantly, although what she was expecting to see, he wasn't sure.

"He's in cryogenic suspension."

Her brows furrowed, "This century doesn't have that technology."

"This is Torchwood. We've had it for… a little over a hundred years." Which, he supposed, was lucky for him, all things considered.

"What the Hell is this place?"

He shrugged. He drank his coffee. It was one of Ianto's special creations, the one with a hint of cinnamon and vanilla and that something that the younger man refused to name, he just called it his secret ingredient. It didn't make Jack feel any warmer inside.

"How long… how long as it been, your time line, since we last spoke?" his mother asked him, in a very quiet tone, taking a sip of her own coffee.

"It ah… it's been longer than five years," he answered without actually telling her anything.

She regarded him thoughtfully for a while, holding her cup in both hands, keeping a more than polite distance between them. "You look older, I think. Not… nothing specific. Your eyes, maybe," she tilted her head a little, not quite smiling. "I'd say it's been a lot longer than five years. Jack."

"You don't have to call me that."

"What difference does your name make?"

Not having a good answer, he didn't even try. "I suppose I've had for long enough…" longer than he'd had any other name, even the one she'd given him.

Several more moments of uneasy silence passed between them before she asked if he was going to tell her why he'd put Grey in cryogenic suspension.

"I… " his voice caught. Tosh. Owen. Two thousand people dead and wounded in Cardiff. Two thousand years, buried alive…

He felt the weight of those years crushing down on him for the first time in months. The helplessness… the hopelessness… knowing that it was his fault. It was really his fault, all of it… "I am so sorry," his voice was a hoarse whisper. He wasn't even sure it was his mother he was talking to. "He… those… those things… it changed him, Mom. What they did to him… all those years… all the pain… torture. He wanted me to kill him," he turned away from her. "I could never… I wanted to find him as much as you did… and it's all my fault. I left him that day…" _and Tosh and Owen paid the price._ Cardiff paid the price. "I didn't mean to leave him. It just… it all happened so fast…everyone was running… " he wiped the moisture from his cheeks and looked up at her. She was just watching him, unmoving, seemingly unmoved. "I don't know what they told you." Jack struggled to keep his voice even.

"That he'd been found. Rescued by a Time Agent, your old partner. Probably the only good thing that man's ever done."

Jack almost smiled, "No one around here would argue with that. John… he made quite an impression."

"John, now, is it?"

He just nodded. Then he asked her who had told her about Grey, because he knew it couldn't have been John.

"Does it matter?"

"I won't know until you tell me." He wiped the last of the moisture from his face.

She sighed into her cup. "Mareen. Mareen Netzach. She never mentioned you," her tone broke for the first time. "But she knew, didn't she? She knew that you were somehow a part of this… Torchwood."

"Probably." Even if there were only a handful of them left, the Doctor was right about the kind of trouble a person could get into hopping around time and space unchecked, and 'unchecked' was one of the kindest things anyone could say about Marren. She had been his immediate supervisor just before those two years went missing from his life. "I wasn't kidding about those first two years not being my fault," he told her again. "Something happened… I woke up and… and two years were just gone."

"What do you mean 'gone'?"

"I couldn't remember _anything_. I went to bed one night and literally woke up two years later and everything was different… everything… _everything_. They _took_ two years of my life and I still don't know what happened to me." Anger and frustration boiled together too near the surface. He had to pause a moment before continuing. "It wasn't like Roan and I had exactly had the best relationship… and what the Hell was I supposed to say to him after having been gone for two years?" _How could I face Jason?_

Jason had been three the last time he saw him... and Jack realized then that he could only barely remember what he'd looked like... he put down his cup, trying desperatly to ignore how much that hurt. It wasn't like he'd been around a whole lot those first three years. Jason had been Roan's idea, not his... but the man he was today regretted the stupid mistakes of the man he'd been then. Roan, much like Ianto, had placed very few demands on their relationship. Jack realized his mother was looking at him and he forced himself to meet her gaze.

"Why didn't you just come home?" she asked in a soft tone, her meaning clear. Why hadn't he come to her.

"I don't know," he gave her the only answer he had.

She didn't respond; she looked around the Hub again, taking more of it in. "So how did Grey get here? How did _you _get here?"

He shook his head. "How I got here doesn't matter. Grey came here looking for me. For revenge."

Her frown deepened.

Reluctantly, Jack stood up and offered his mother his hand; he was surprised when she accepted. He walked her over to nearest desk… it happened to be Ianto's, the picture of the two of them made his guts knot up, but he ignored it. He also ignored the way his mother looked at the photo, without a comment. No comment was needed, not with the two of them were standing there, the rest of the team gathered around, toasting the happy couple on their wedding day…

Jack brought up news footage from the day after Grey had come to Cardiff… "It's not because he hates me that I can't let him go, Mom. It's because of what he _did."_

She glared up at him, "What right have you to judge?"

"It's not judgement," he nodded at the screen. "He won't stop… he won't stop until I'm… until I'm dead and in order to hurt me, he _will_ hurt more people. I can't let him do that. I'm _sorry_. He can never wake up."

She watched the computer screen for a few moments, tears falling... Jack made no effort to comfort her. There was no comfort for any of it.

"Turn it off," she said at last.

He did without question.

She stared up at him again, as if searching for something... _maybe one good thing to hold onto_, Jack thought. He knew he wasn't that one good thing, at least not for her.

"Can I see him?" she asked. "Say goodbye before I leave?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I can take you to him."


	4. Mothers and Sons

**Chapter ****Four: Mothers and Sons**

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Jack watched his mother leaning over Grey's body, crying; her tears were quiet. Dignified. She was every bit the woman he remembered her being. Strong. Beautiful.

_But she looks so much older than I remember… _He was standing back several paces, giving her space to grieve.

He was surprised when she looked up at him and he recognized that look in her eyes, the question. The need for solace… she held out her hand and he crossed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and burying his face in her hair. She still smelled like the sea.

He didn't remember her seeming so much shorter than he was, though, even though he knew he hadn't gotten any taller since the last time he'd seen her. _Two thousand and fifty eight… no two thousand and __**sixty three**__ years ago… _he almost smiled. _Assuming Ianto's math is correct,_ which it always was.

"What happened?" his mother's voice sounded tiny in the huge morgue.

Jack shook his head, "When those things took him… he said they lived to torture… I… I can't imagine what he lived through." His own tears were falling now, tears he'd almost thought he was done shedding over a past he couldn't change. "John… John found him… he was the only person alive on the whole planet. He… he didn't realize Grey had…" he couldn't finish the sentence. It _wasn't _John's fault. For once in his life he'd done the right thing even if Jack had his suspicions that it might have been for the wrong reasons. But John had suffered almost as much as the rest of them had.

His mother turned and looked at him, "What happened here?"

"He wanted to hurt me. He did." Jack closed his eyes and found the image of Toshiko's dying moments waiting for him there in the dark. He took a deep, ragged breath and let it out again. "He hurt me because I left him. He blamed me for everything that happened to him."

"You didn't leave him, you were just a kid yourself." It was exactly what she'd always said when he tried to blame himself for what happened that day. "Look at me."

He shook his head. "It was my fault. I accept that responsibility." He glanced over at the drawer that held Tosh's body. "Everyone who died that day… it's all my fault."

"You lost someone close, didn't you?"

"Two people." Suddenly his mother's arms were wrapped around his waist. He held her tightly, not quite believing she was really here… not wanting to ever let go again. It had been so long since she'd held him like this, held him while he cried… "I can't change all the things I did wrong," he told her quietly some long moments later. "All I can do is… is tell you how sorry I am for the mistakes I've made."

The closest she came to accepting his apology was to nod into his chest.

Then she pulled away and turned towards Grey. She leaned over his frozen body and kissed his cheek, telling him softly how much she would always love him. When she straightened, she turned her gaze back to Jack. "What's going to happen to him?" she asked.

"I'll keep him safe. I promise."

"You're not going to live forever…"

He almost choked, but covered it quickly with a cough. "I ah… I'll make sure… Torchwood is going to be around for a long time and as long as we're here, he'll be safe."

She nodded, seeming to accept the answer.

Jack slid his brother's body back into the drawer and hit the control on his wrist strap to seal the door.

"That thing still works…?"

"The teleport is… permanently offline."

"So you really are stuck here."

He shrugged. "There are worse places to be."

She looked around her dubiously, then up at him, "That young man in the photo with you…?"

"I ah… hope you won't hold what he did upstairs against him," he managed a small smile as he led the way back out of the morgue.

"Loyalty isn't a bad quality in a man. As long as it's _deserved_," her tone and the look she gave him were biting.

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm not sure I've always deserved his loyalty," he told her honestly. He wondered again how many nights he was going to be bunking with Myfanwy in the proverbial doghouse before Ianto was ready to forgive him.

He watched her walk back over to Ianto's station and pick up the photo she'd glanced at earlier. He stood behind her while she studied it for a long moment. "You look happy here," she finally said, her tone still cool.

"Yeah." He took the picture from her to look at it himself. "I was."

She glanced up at him.

"I still am," he answered the unasked question.

His mother picked up the other picture Ianto kept on his desk. It was of Ianto and Remi and her stuffed pterodactyl grinned madly at the camera at Remi's seventh birthday party. "Is she his?"

"His niece."

"She's beautiful."

Jack nodded, putting the wedding photo back where it belonged. "She's a great kid."

"She seems to have a thing for dinosaurs."

Jack chuckled, "You have no idea." Remi's new thing was that she was going to be a palaeontologist when she grew up. Which wouldn't be quite so bad, if the precocious child hadn't had to explain to her mother just what that was… Jack blamed Ianto. She never could have picked up a word like that anywhere else. Just the same, they'd promised to take her to meet Victoria sometime. Victoria's area of expertise wasn't dinosaurs, of course, but Jack had the feeling Remi would enjoy meeting her.

He realized his mother was looking up at him, as if she expected him to say something, although he had no idea what. "So… what are you going to do now?" he asked her. "You're stuck here…"

She shrugged, setting the photograph of Ianto and Remi back on the desk where she'd gotten it. "I knew the trip was one-way before I came. I'll just do what I was going to do if… things had been different. They knew, didn't they?" she asked again. "Your friends at the Time Agency, they really knew…?"

"They're not my friends," he couldn't help the bitter edge to his voice. "You were right," he admitted. She'd told him joining the Agency was a mistake, it was just his way of running away. He hadn't listened. There was nothing he could do to change any of it now. He sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "More coffee?"

She nodded and found a seat back on the same sofa she'd started out on earlier.

Jack didn't take long; he handed her a cup and sat back down next to her. The silence didn't seem quite as awkward as it had been before, but it was still far from comfortable. Finally, "How are you going to live in this time?" he asked. "You haven't even learned the language."

She gave him a startled look.

He glanced down at his wrist strap, "I checked you for out of place technology. Sorry. Part of my job."

"I can learn a language. If I have to." She pulled out the small translator module; to the inexperienced eye, it looked like little more than a piece of jewellery, just a little silver bauble on a chain.

"Don't rely on that." He sipped at his coffee. "What else do you have?"

"What do you mean?"

"Mother…"

"I didn't come here looking for…" she stopped then, biting her tongue on repeating what she'd said earlier. "We'll be fine. I expected to be on my own, remember?" her tone was more subdued.

"You don't have to be," he offered very, very tentatively.

She shook her head. "We'll be fine. I should… go. I left Jason alone watching some wretched program on the hotel television."

He was about to ask how she could possibly have left an eight year old all alone, but then Jack realized he'd given up his parental rights a long time ago. "Do… you need a ride back…?"

"You can call me a cab."

He gave her a look.

"I have sufficient funds for the time being."

"How?"

"Mareen."

He frowned, wondering exactly what Mareen was playing at… he didn't remember her as the sort of person to help someone out of the goodness of her heart, her heart wasn't especially good. But there were more immediate concerns. "What about your identity? A birth certificate…passport? Where are you going to live? What will you do? People are going to notice an eight year old not in school."

She gave him an incredulous look. What he missed was how surprised she was that someone like him would consider how someone _else_ was going to survive in a strange time. The man she knew hadn't been quite so interested in the welfare of others, not unless it somehow impacted him, which she didn't see how her being her could.

"Believe me, I learned the hard way. I didn't start working for this place because I wanted to spend the rest of my life tracking down alien technology. When I came here, I didn't have anything."

"I told you. We'll manage." She stood up; Jack followed suit. "I also told you that we'd leave you alone. We'll leave Cardiff first thing in the morning. I've been told by several people what a lovely American accent I have. Maybe we'll go there… I figure that's far enough away from your life, right?"

Jack tried very hard to ignore the rock that settled back his gut as she spoke. "You… you don't have to…" but what could he do? Invite her to stay in Cardiff? All things considered, the US might be a safer place for her and Jason to settle.

She gave him a long penetrating look as if she was waiting for him to say or do something, but he had no idea what. Finally she asked him if he could call her a cab and walk her back up.

……………………………………..

After calling Ianto's mobile, twice, and having it go straight to voice mail, twice, Jack tried Wendy's number.

She very politely told him that Ianto hadn't come home with her. It was the very politely part that worried Jack… he needed to remember that she wasn't just a teammate, she was his partner's best friend. He thanked her and hung up.

If Ianto wasn't with Wendy, there was only one other place he needed to look.

……………………………

"You have a key, you know. You didn't have to knock," Alice Jones said in the same sort of cool, dry tone Ianto used when he was annoyed with someone. Just the same, she stepped aside to admit Jack into her living room.

"I… wasn't sure…" _wasn't sure I was welcome… _he had no idea what Ianto had told his mother when he appeared on her doorstep, presumably unannounced, sometime after six o'clock on a Sunday night.

Alice didn't answer the questioning look on his face, she just told Jack that Ianto was in the kitchen. "They're playing Old Maid," she added, holding out her hand and nodding at his coat. The real meaning of the gesture wasn't lost on him. If she wanted him to take off his coat, she expected him to stay a while. Jack hoped that was a good sign.

Ianto's laugh died in his throat when he looked to see Jack coming into the kitchen. He managed to force a tight smile, but then Jack looked away. "Erm… would you two… excuse me…?" he said to his sister and niece.

"Uncle Yan, it's your deal!"

"I can wait while you finish this hand," Jack offered in a soft tone.

"Good then," Alice was just behind him. "I was about to put the kettle on anyway," she shot both of the men a look; Jack couldn't quite read it, but he was sure she knew that he'd done something to cause the hurt look he'd seen in Ianto's eyes the moment he walked into the kitchen.

Reluctantly, the younger man nodded and settled back into his chair, picking up the cards.

He hadn't wanted to talk about what had happened back at the tourist office when he got here. He _couldn't_ talk about it. _I met Jack's mother tonight and put a loaded gun to her head…_ right. _**That**_ would go over well.

Coming here had probably been his fourth or fifth mistake of evening, but the truth was that he hadn't been aware that he _was _coming here until he pulled up in front of his mother's house and Remi came running out to greet him. By then it was too late to go someplace else.

Getting Nerys not to ask a million questions had been the hardest part, but in the end all he'd said was that he and Jack had had a disagreement and they just needed a little time to cool off. He supposed it was close to the truth even if he wasn't quite sure Jack was ever going to forgive him for what he'd done. There was no way to make the man sitting across from him understand how much it hurt seeing him die, even though Ianto knew he wouldn't stay dead for any length of time. There was always that one slim chance that this would be the time his immortality ran out…

Ultimately it had been Ianto's mother who had surprised him by offering tea and the reminder that no matter what the fight was about or how bad it had gotten, she knew he loved Jack and as long as the other man hadn't done something truly unforgivable… _which he hasn't,_ Ianto told himself again, looking across the table at Jack who had unwittingly found himself dealt into the hand.

He couldn't help but smile as he watched the older man flounder his way through Old Maid. It definitely wasn't his game, but having a fourth player made the hand go quicker. Jack glanced at him too, and smiled, just a little.

"All right, time for bed," Nerys announced after Ianto won the round. Again.

Remi gave both Jack and Ianto hugs good night and Nerys managed to get her upstairs before the little girl could ask either of her uncles (her favourite uncles she would often boldly declare) to read her a bedtime story.

Without even bothering to find an excuse, Alice left the room after her daughter and granddaughter.

"I'm sorry, Cariad," Ianto said quietly, before Jack had the chance to speak.

The older man shook his head, causing the Ianto's stomach to bottom out… but then he reached across the table for his hand. Ianto curled his fingers into Jack's. The Captain still refused to meet his gaze, though, "I'm the one who should be sorry," his tone was unusually soft.

"You want to take a walk so we can talk about it?"

"It's kinda cold…"

"I don't mind."

Jack nodded. He supposed they wouldn't really get any privacy here and it was probably too much to ask Ianto to just come home with him, not after what he'd pulled on the younger man earlier.


	5. Mistakes

**Thank you **for the reviews. This has gotten better response than I'd hoped for… thank you, thank you!!

Yes, the boys can both be idiots… but we love them ;-) (thank goodness one of them shows a little sense at the end!)

……………………………………………………

**Chapter ****Five: Mistakes**

……………………………………………………

Jack let Ianto get his coat and help him with it, but as soon as the younger man started to put his own overcoat on, Jack had it out of his hands so he could give him a hand as well.

Ianto glanced over his shoulder blinking, startled; then he smiled and gave in. He leant back into Jack's touch just a bit. There were plenty of things he was upset about, plenty of things he was sorry for, but for just one moment he wanted to forget them all and enjoy life's little pleasures.

Considering the chance of rejection worth the risk, Jack leant forward and as awkward as the angle was, his young Welshman met the kiss half way.

"I am sorry," Ianto whispered again.

This time Jack nodded; he got the door so they could take the rest of the conversation outside. "You know could have let her shoot," he said softly once the door was shut behind them. "It wouldn't have killed me." He flashed half a wicked smile.

Ianto's tone caught him off guard. "But it would have killed _me_," he said.

The older man's brows furrowed.

"I don't expect you to understand it; just know that it hurts me every time you do that, Jack."

"But…" he began to protest.

Ianto cut him off, "I know here," he tapped the side of his head, "That you can't die. But _here_," he moved his hand to his chest, "Here doesn't know it. Here doesn't care. So if I can ever stop it from happening, if I can stop someone from killing you, or stop you from getting hurt, _I __**will**_. Because someday you might use up whatever it is that makes you immortal." His tone was ragged. "I don't want that to happen in my lifetime."

Jack slid his arm around Ianto's waist and pulled him close. "It won't. I promise," he kissed the younger man's forehead, loving the way Ianto put his arms around him for just a moment. Even when he pulled back, he left one arm securely around Jack's waist.

Jack steered Ianto towards the black SUV parked across the street.

"I seriously hope you're not going to suggest making out in the back seat now," the Welshman's tone was dry.

Jack chuckled. "I wasn't going to, but now that you mention it…"

"Jack."

Right. He hadn't thought so. "I didn't want to bring this into the house," he said, reaching into the passenger seat for the trio of roses, one red, one white, and one pink. "I wasn't sure what kind of reception I was going to get," he admitted.

"I told them we had an argument, _not_ that I held a gun to your mother's head or that you threw me out of the Hub."

"Probably just as well you kept the details to yourself," he smiled despite the chilly tone in Ianto's voice just there.

Ianto leant up against the SUV and gazed up at the night sky. It was cloudy, but he could still see a few stars twinkling between the wisps of grey. It was good to be able to look up and see stars.

He took the flowers his Captain was holding out to him, but he fixed the other man with a hard look. "You asked me to leave my own home, Jack. You dismissed me the same way you dismissed the others, as if I was nothing more than an employee." As hard as he was trying, he couldn't keep his tone neutral. Being pushed away like that had hurt more than anything had hurt him in a long time. "You didn't even give it – or me – a second thought."

"I know. But I… I didn't realize it at the time. I forgot," was all he could say in his own defense.

"You forgot that I _live_ there?" the younger man's tone was incredulous.

"Yes."

Ianto turned away from him, trying to come up with something to say to that. When he felt Jack's hands on his arms, he didn't pull away, but he didn't turn around, either.

"I'm sorry. I'm _so _sorry," Jack apologized. "I wasn't thinking."

Ianto nodded, to acknowledge that he'd heard the apology, but he didn't know what to say to it. Being forgotten, ignored… taken for granted… not being important enough to be remembered… would Jack really be able to remember that he'd ever existed…?

When Ianto didn't say anything for several of the longest moments of Jack's life, he asked him in a shaky voice if he was coming back home tonight.

"Assuming I'm welcome…" the younger man's tone was harsh.

"_Of course."_

"Just checking," he turned around and made himself meet Jack's gaze.

The pain in his eyes cut the older man the marrow as much as anything else had tonight. "I'm sorry. About asking you to leave like that…"

"You didn't ask."

"You're right."

Ianto looked at him for a long while.

Finally Jack broke the silence that had settled between them. "I'm sorry I never told you about Roan." His voice was still shaky. "It's just… he was so far in my past… he won't even be born for another two thousand years. I didn't think it would ever matter."

"All right," the Welshman said in a soft tone.

Jack studied his features. He wasn't sure that 'all right' really meant all right. "I was a different person when he and I were together."

Ianto just nodded, dropping his gaze.

"Our relationship had been bad for a long time," but he felt like the more he said, the worse he was making it. "It couldn't have surprised him when I left…"

"Did you love him?" his voice was shaky too.

"I was barely twenty five when we got together, I didn't know what love was…"

The Welshman's dark expression made the rest of that sentence stop in his throat. "That's how old I am, Jack."

_Shit._ "I didn't mean it like that. Ianto," he cupped the other man's face in both of his hands, thankful that he didn't pull away. "I will keep _every _promise I've ever made to you. Only… all I can do is promise you that I will and if you don't believe me…" he searched the blue eyes staring at him for some clue that he hadn't completely screwed things up tonight.

Ianto leant forward then; Jack met the kiss half way.

"Maybe it's stupid," the younger man confessed, although it wasn't the first time, "But my biggest fear is that you'll forget me someday. I need to believe that I'm important enough for to you to remember."

"I will never, _ever _forget you. I was a different person when I was with Roan. I was young and… and I made some mistakes. Big ones. I can't undo the things I did back then. But I can learn from them and I _don't_ think that twenty five is too young to know what love is, it was just too young for me." He forced a half-smile, "I needed a century or two to really grow up."

"I suppose it's a good thing for me then, that when you came here looking for the Doctor you were off by a century."

Jack's smile became more genuine; he leant in and Ianto met him half way… "I do love you, Ianto Jones-Harkness," he said when their lips parted. "I will _always_ love you."

Ianto smiled back at him, loving the way his name sounded when Jack said it.

A car rounded the corner and Ianto suggested that they should get off the road and actually take that walk. Jack offered him his arm and he accepted, not really caring what anyone who happened to be watching might think.

"Can I ask how things went after I left?" Ianto asked after they'd gone a couple of blocks, each buried in his own thoughts.

"They'll be leaving Cardiff in the morning."

Ianto stopped in his tracks and turned, forcing Jack to look him straight in the eye. He'd missed the hint of sadness in his partner's voice, mostly because he couldn't believe what the other man had just said.

"Grey is still in the vaults," Jack said quickly, misinterpreting Ianto's reaction. "It's just… her and… Jason… leaving." His voice caught in throat every time he said his son's name aloud.

"I assumed you didn't mean Grey." His tone was harsher than he'd meant it to be.

Jack blinked, completely confused by the younger man's reaction.

"Jack. I was standing right there. I know who they are. She's your mother. He's is your _son_."

"Yes." He blinked back the tears that were threatening to overtake him, convincing himself that it was just some kind of leftover emotions from having everything with Grey dredged up unexpectedly like it had been.

Ianto continued to stare at him. The other man stared back.

Ianto broke first. "He's your son and they're leaving in the morning." It was an uphill battle to keep his tone even.

"What do you want me to say? What _should_ I say? It's been two thousand and…"

"And five years for them," Ianto cut him off, an angry tone in his voice.

"Which means Jason was three the last time I saw him. He wouldn't even remember me. And it's not like I would have won any parent of the century awards, even when I _was_ around. I told you. I _wasn't _a good father, not to any of my children," he turned away.

"Maybe not. But if she leaves tomorrow, are you ever going to see them again? Will you _ever _get another chance at… at _anything?"_

"I wasn't going to see them again anyway!"

"You don't know that."

"Ianto…"

"You're going to live forever, Jack. You could very well show up on her doorstep the day after you left."

"But I won't, will I? If I did… if I _had…_ they wouldn't be here."

"Jack…Cariad," his tone was softer; he laid a hand on the other man's arm. "He's your son… or at least I'm assuming that he's as much yours, biologically…?" He questioned. Jack nodded. "And you were the one who was pregnant…"

"Please don't remind me."

Ianto sighed, trying to ignore his tone. "You can't just let them walk away from you like this."

"Why not? I walked away from them. I never even looked back."

"All the more reason for you not to make the same mistake twice."


	6. Second Chances

**Chapter ****Six: Second Chances **

……………………………………………………

Jack was about to give up, having tapped lightly on the motel room door and gotten no immediate response. Just as he was turning to go, the door opened, just a crack.

His mother looked up at him puzzled, her brows furrowed.

"You registered for the room in your own name, Mom. It wasn't that hard to find you."

She _hmphed_ lightly and stepped outside, pulling her bathrobe tight against the chill of the late autumn night. "What do you want?" She asked.

Jack slid off his greatcoat and draped it around her shoulders. She gave him a quizzical look, but he missed it, shoving his hands in his pockets and staring at the combed concrete between his boots.

It was late. It had been late when she left him, even later by the time Remi went to bed. After Jack left Ianto, with way too much to think about, he'd spent an hour driving and another two hours standing atop Cardiff Castle, trying not to think.

He looked out over the motel car park. This was not the sort of place he would have put his mother up for the night. _But she doesn't want my help,_ he reminded himself. Which brought him back to her question. What _did _he want? He had no idea. Or maybe, he had too many ideas… "Can I see him?" he asked simply after several long moments had passed between them.

She fixed him with a long hard look. "It's the middle of the night. He's asleep."

"I just… just want to see him." _I need to remember what he looks like._ "Just for a minute…?"

She relented more quickly than he would have expected. "Quietly, though," she cautioned.

He nodded and followed her into the motel room. It wasn't as bad on the inside as it had been on the outside, at least. The room looked clean and reasonably well maintained.

And there lying on the bed furthest from the door was a sleeping boy.

Jack's heart caught in his throat. He had tussled dark hair that reminded the Captain of the way his brother's had looked at that age.

There was just enough light coming in through the window for Jack to make out his features. He didn't really look much like Jack, or his brother really, just the hair, but something about his face was so familiar, like someone Jack knew, but it had been_ so_ long… so many details about that part of his life had faded. He hadn't expected it to hurt so much…

"He has Roan's face," he said at last, finally realizing what it was that looked so familiar about Jason.

"But he has your eyes," his mother told said softly, gazing up at him, his huge coat still draped around her shoulders. "_And_ your smile. He's going to be trouble in a few years, just like you were."

He chuckled, just as softly, still missing the way his mother was looking at him, as if seeing him differently somehow. It wasn't just that he was older… he wasn't the person she remembered.

Jack studied his son's face a long while, unaware of the smile playing on his lips as he watched the boy sleeping. So many emotions pulled at him. Guilt. Love. Guilt over loving him; he didn't know Jason. Jason didn't know him. It was better for them both that way. He would out live his son and his grandsons and their grandsons too… heck, he already had great grandchildren running around.

_So many mistakes… _he never should have married Laura, but it had been so easy to pretend he could have a normal life, something outside Torchwood… something that was_ his_. They had owned him body and soul for so long…

"All you have to do is ask," his mother's voice was so soft, he barely heard her speak.

He blinked down at her. "Ask?" _Ask what?_

"He's _your _son."

"No," he shook his head. He could tell from her expression that she didn't understand what he'd meant by 'no'. "I gave up my claim on him when I walked out on them. On him," he closed his eyes a moment, and cleared his throat to try and free it of the knot that had settled there.

"Roan never saw it that way."

"What… what did he tell Jason… about me?" he was almost afraid to hear the answer.

"That both of his fathers loved him very much. He kept a picture of you… of the two of you together, in happier times. Jason still has it. I… He asks me about you almost every day. I… I have to admit that I haven't had as easy of a time as Roan did in telling him good things about his Papa. I'm sorry about that. Lying was never something I was good at."

Jack swallowed; he'd completely forgotten what Jason used to call him. "You shouldn't lie to him. He… he deserves better." He discovered that it hurt no matter which one of them he looked at, so he just shoved his hands into his pockets again and studied the ugly gold carpeting between his boots.

"He deserves lots of things," she said in the same soft tone she'd used a few minutes ago.

"How is he… I mean… how is he holding up with Roan being gone?"

"Children are strong. Adaptable. You know that."

Jack shook his head, "I wasn't strong or adaptable. All I did was run away… from you… from him… from everything." He hadn't stopped running away until he met the Doctor…

"It seems to me as if you've stopped running now…?" the questioning tone in her voice drew his gaze back up to her face.

"I met somebody," admitted.

"The young man in the photo."

"No… well… yes. But before him. I met somebody… legendary. He changed my life."

She gave him a look, new suspicion growing in her expression, as she wondered if she'd been wrong about him seeming different. "Legendary, hmmm?"

"I mean that literally," he assured her. "I met a man who could show me all of time and space. He did. And then he left me."

"Sounds like he knew what was good for him."

Jack smiled, just a little. "We never… danced," he raised his eyebrows.

"Danced?"

"See, that's why you can't rely on translators. You miss the subtleties."

"I think your expression tells me everything I need to know about you and this 'legendary' man of yours and your _subtleties._"

"My Doctor."

"And your young man?" she questioned, although she knew it was none of her business.

"He knows. He knows that he changed my life in ways… in ways a Time Lord never could," he couldn't help himself.

Her breath caught.

"Oh yeah." He grinned. If he couldn't brag a little to his own mother…

Jason stirred in his sleep; Jack looked over at him again, the lightness of his mood gone in an instant. He knew that the right thing to do was to leave them, to let them make a life for themselves somewhere far, far away from him. He knew that it was going to hurt because Ianto was right, there was a very good chance that he would never see them again. He had no right to.

Besides, the Hub was no place for a child. Weevils… aliens… alien technology… the fact that not quite six months ago Hub security had been breached, Tosh and Owen had been killed and every Weevil in the city sent out of the sewers. And there was no telling what tomorrow would bring.

"I wish I could ask," he admitted. "You have no idea how much I wish I could. But my job… my _life_… "

"Your life is what you make it," she gave him a long, thoughtful look. "Although I suppose if you're the least bit serious about that young man…"

"You know it was a wedding photo, Mom. Wedding customs haven't changed _that_ much in three thousand years."

"Like I said, _if_ you're the least bit serious about him," she repeated sharply.

He sighed. She was right to question him. "He's… he is…_ everything_." He glanced over at Jason again… _**almost **__everything…_ "I haven't always deserved his loyalty," he told her again. "But I've spent the last year trying to be the kind of person who… who deserves someone like him."

She gave him another one of those long thoughtful looks. "You must have had quite a bit of explaining to do after I left."

He shrugged, "I don't think I'm done explaining."

"I suppose I owe you an apology…"

Jack waved it aside. "Will you at least let me help you?" he asked. "Please. I need to know that you two are going to be all right."

"Then what?"

"I don't know."

She walked over to the window and stared out at the night.

A moment later, Jack joined her there, silently grateful she hadn't shown up a couple of months ago.

They stood in silence for a while; he couldn't decipher from her body language if it was comfortable or uncomfortable silence… maybe it just _was._

Eventually, she looked up at him then, "Jack Harkness," she said it slowly. "Not a bad name."

He didn't meet her gaze, but just kept looking out at the night sky. "It was convenient at the time."

"Good thing something truly dreadful wasn't convenient, then. You could have ended up Horace or… Wilberton."

He chuckled, despite all the knives that were dancing around in his gut again. It was late. He _should_ go home. If Jason woke up and saw him… but he just didn't _want _to go. _Just a few more minutes_, Jack promised himself. A few more minutes and he would leave…

"I did find my son today," his mother's words cut off his thoughts. "Not the one I was looking for," she added to his look of disbelief. "But… sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you find it," she turned around and leant up against the windowsill, gazing up at him. "Sometimes it has to find you."

He wrapped his arms around her and she held him onto him.

"Please stay," Jack's voice was a ragged whisper.

She held him for a moment more before she looked up, brushing the moisture from his face. "Only if… you're his father. Jack. You're his father and you're all he has left besides me…"

"There's something I need to tell you," he cut her off. "Something… something that you need to hear."

She nodded.

Jack took a breath and let it out, trying to collect his thoughts. But she needed to know. Before she made up her mind to stay, she needed to know…

"What is it?" she prompted gently.

"I…um… gheeze… where's Ianto when I need him," he wiped the last of the moisture from his eyes as he smiled, trying to put the numbers together in his head. He held his mother at arms length, but didn't let go of her. "Something happened when I was travelling with that Time Lord. And… well… give or take that year that never happened that I don't know if Ianto figured in or not… on my last birthday I turned two thousand and eighty six years old."

Disbelief flickered across her features. She scrutinized his face as if looking for some hint, some clue… he wasn't sure if she was looking for evidence of his true age or clues that he was lying.

"How?" she finally asked.

"Something happened to me and I can't die," was his only answer. He let her go so she could sit down. She looked like she needed it.

Jack knelt down next to her and she ran her fingers through his hair, pausing as she noticed the few grey hairs, the only evidence that he was more than five years older than he'd been the last time she saw him.

Neither of them spoke again until Jason woke up several hours later…


	7. Reconciliation

Thank you everybody for the lovely reviews and / or putting this on your fave and alert lists!! I'm really having a ball writing this, so I am especially glad that it's being enjoyed.

...

**Chapter Seven: Reconciliation **

……………………………………………………

Jack's mother recognized the sounds of a waking child first. She'd spent the last couple of hours just watching her son. He just sat there, unmoving. Watching. Keeping watch, maybe. It was a side of him she'd never known before, but two thousand years… two thousand and eighty six years and just a few grey hairs… a wrinkle or two…

No words had passed between them for some long while, but it hadn't been an uncomfortable silence.

As soon as Jason stirred, she got to her feet and moved over towards the bed, aware that Jack was hanging back, unsure of himself. She'd never known him to be uncertain of anything, not even when he was a child himself.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and stroked her grandson's hair, smiling at him the way she had every morning since he'd lost his father. She wasn't sure if the ritual was for his sake or for hers anymore. "There's somebody here who wants to see you," she said softly when Jason finally opened his eyes.

"Hmmmm?" was the sleepy response.

She glanced over her shoulder at her son, "He's like you in the morning," she told him in a quiet tone. Roan had been the morning person…

Jack swallowed and forced himself to take another step forward, into Jason's line of vision. He told himself again not to get his hopes up. There was no guarantee Jason would recognize him or want anything to do with him … in fact, he knew he should be prepared for rejection or fear or worse…

Jason sat up, rubbing his eyes. He turned towards Jack and the knots in Jack's stomach tightened… his mother was right, Jason had his eyes. Probably his hair too…

Jason blinked several times as if not quite certain of what he was seeing, or maybe not sure that it was real.

Jack forced a tight smile, but he didn't know what to say, so he just stood there, tears stinging in his eyes because looking at his son now, he had no idea why he'd run out on them like he had. _Please don't hate me…_

"Papa?" Jason's voice was shaky; he looked to his grandmother, uncertainly and then back at Jack again.

"Hey there. Long time no see." Jack barely recognized the sound of his own voice.

He'd spent the last few hours trying to remember his son's other father, trying to remember what had happened between them… trying to remember anything at all about that part of his life. He hadn't come up with much.

He remembered a quiet man with ginger hair and a shy sweet smile. He remembered his friends telling him what a bad match they were and how he was just going to break Roan's heart. He remembered thinking the same thing and wondering what Roan saw in him anyway, at least beyond the obvious.

Jack had always been aware of his looks and if it had just been a casual shag, he would have understood perfectly, but Roan made it into so much more.

If he had been a better person, he might never have gotten involved with the man, but the fact was that Roan was an easy, willing lover, someone Jack didn't have to put any effort into. He was always there, always dependable. He was someone Jack could fall back on when his other plans fell through and he never once asked Jack for anything in return… just Jason.

But even with all the years clouding his memory, he was_ sure_ Roan hadn't had to put up with him. He remembered the other man as being attractive, intelligent… his mother liked him, that said something of his character. _So why did you love me…? _He wondered for the hundredth time.

"What're you doing here…?" Jason's soft voice cut through the unhappy jumble of his thoughts.

Jack shrugged. He wanted to say he'd come here for them but Jason deserved better than a lie. "I was in the neighbourhood…"

His mother's dark look silenced the joke before he'd finished it. "Get over here," she told him.

The commanding tone in her voice was enough to convince his body to move.

He looked down at his son's face and felt his whole body shake. "I… I am so happy to see you," he managed to say at last. It was the truth. It was the absolute truth.

Suddenly there were a pair of arms wrapped around his waist and he could barely breathe. Jack held him tight, manoeuvring so he was sitting in the bed and could really pull his son into his arms. _Sometimes you don't know what you're looking for until you find it…_ "Oh God, I missed you…" he whispered. That was the truth too. He kissed the top of Jason's head. "I missed you so much and I am so sorry I haven't been here…" _please forgive me…_

"Shhh…" his mother laid a hand on his back, rubbing it gently. "You're here now, Jack. That's what matters. _Here_. _**Now**_."

He just nodded, no longer able to speak.

……………………………………………….

Jack found Ianto waiting for him as soon as the cog door rolled open. It didn't look like he'd slept, although he'd showered and changed into a clean suit. It was the black pinstriped one and he was wearing it with the dark grey shirt and silver and black tie. His expression was about as cheerful as his suit. The older man forced a tight smile. His partner didn't return it, even when Jack offered him the cup of coffee from Starbuck's he'd picked up as a peace offering.

"When you asked me if I was coming home last night, I _assumed_ that meant you were coming home yourself." His tone was cold. He did take the coffee. He didn't throw it at Jack, either, something Jack realized belatedly might happen. Then again, Ianto wasn't like that. He was always there. Always dependable. And he was waiting for an answer.

Jack shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm sorry."

The younger man gave him a long measured look. "Did you see them?" he asked in the same cool tone.

"Yes."

Ianto nodded and headed towards the coffee station, presumably to start a pot for when the others came in. "You know, there was this American fellow named Alexander Graham Bell," he said over his shoulder, "And he invented this marvellous thing called a telephone. You should look it up sometime… it's fantastic for communicating over long distances. Just the thing to use to let someone know you're going to be out all night so he won't worry himself half to death wondering where you are."

Jack slid up behind him wrapping both arms around the younger man's waist, "What was there to worry about?" he asked with a coy smile.

"I'm serious, Jack," Ianto's tone was humourless.

He let go and stood back, shoving his hands back into his pockets. "I'm sorry," he had the feeling he was going to be saying that a lot over the next few days. "Gwen should be in soon… you want to go get something to eat?"

"I'm really not much of a breakfast person."

"I know. But I've got a hungry eight year old in the SUV."

Ianto nearly dropped the bag of coffee in his hands. He cursed under his breath and set it down, carefully, resting both hands, palm down, on the counter.

"You ok?"

He turned to face the older man. "Just please tell me you locked the glove compartment before leaving an eight year old unattended in the SUV."

"He's not alone, Mom's with him…"

"All the more reason to lock the glove compartment."

Jack smirked, "It's ok, she's promised not to come storming in waving any more guns around, at least not at you."

"This really isn't funny, Jack."

"I know. I'm sorry."

They stared at one another for a long moment. Finally, Ianto found his voice, "So… what does this mean?"

"What does what mean?"

"Any of it… all of it? What's going to happen next?"

"I… I'm not sure."

The younger man nodded and turned back towards the coffee machine. "Let me get a pot of coffee started for Gwen. Would you mind getting my coat?"

……………………………………….

Ianto left a note for Gwen, stating simply that he and Jack had gone out for breakfast and would be back shortly. He was sure she would have a million questions after yesterday, but they would have to wait. By the time he was done writing, Jack had returned from their quarters with his overcoat. He helped him with it the same way he had yesterday. And he was very quiet.

Ianto leant in and Jack met the kiss half way, but it was a very reserved sort of kiss. "Cariad…" he regarded his partner a moment; those amazing blue eyes were still filled with uncertainty. "I sincerely hope you realize that the _only_ thing I'm mad about is you not calling to let me know you were all right."

Jack just nodded; his expression told the younger man that he hadn't been at all sure that that's all he was angry about.

"So… just out of curiosity," Ianto began as they headed up towards the tourist office, "How did you and another man …?" he let the question trail off.

"It's not really that complicated, but it could still take a while to explain."

"Right. Breakfast first, explanations later," he agreed. As the stepped out into the cool morning air, Ianto realized that that flock of pterodactyls that occasionally lived in his stomach was back and they seemed to have brought along some friends this time. "Jack… your mother… I mean… yesterday…?" he questioned

"She said she thinks loyalty isn't a bad quality in a man."

"Well. I suppose that's a plus. But erm… one more thing…" he asked as the SUV came into view. "What…what_ exactly_ did you tell her about us?"

Jack slid his arm around the younger man's waist and pulled him close. "Just that you're the best thing that's ever happened to my life."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes."

Ianto smiled, but the pterodactyls didn't go away.

He took a deep breath as the same woman who had him at gunpoint less than twenty four ours ago slid out of the passenger side of the SUV. She was looking just as uncertain as he was, at least.

Jack pulled him a little closer. "Mom… I know you already sort of met," he flashed a smirk, "But this is Ianto… Ianto Jones-Harkness," his smile softened when he glanced in his partner's direction. "Ianto… I'd like you to meet my mother. Surella… Harkness." He shrugged at the last bit. They hadn't really discussed it, but she didn't correct him either, she just extended her hand towards the younger man and gave him the same strained, awkward seeming smile he was giving her.

"Ma'am," Ianto pulled away from Jack so he could shake her hand properly. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I… I'm very sorry about yesterday." He realized he was blushing. "It wasn't the sort of first impression I would have preferred to give… I mean… I'm sorry, Mrs. Harkness, I hope you'll accept my apology," he finally gave up before burring himself in it any further.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for. And please, call me Ella," she added.

"Ella," he repeated.

Jason squirmed out of the back seat and looked up at the adults, expectantly.

Before Jack could make the introductions, Ianto knelt down to the boy's level, "And you must be Jason," he said with a soft smile. "I'm Ianto," he held out his hand.

The boy accepted, mimicking adult behaviour. "You're Papa's husband…?" it wasn't quite a question, but it wasn't a statement either.

"That's right," Ianto looked fondly up at the man standing next to him. Papa… it fit. "And I am _very _pleased to meet you..."

"Jaaack…?" Gwen's voice cut through the moment. "Ianto? Is everything all right?"

Jack and Ianto both smirked; it wasn't really a case of bad timing, but she seemed to always appear when they least wanted to be interrupted. "Everything's fine, Gwen," Jack told her in a dry, mildly amused tone. Then he glanced down at Ianto, but the younger man nodded that yes, everything really was all right. "We're just heading out to get some breakfast," Jack flashed a smile in Gwen's direction.

Ianto stood up, "I started a pot of coffee for you," he knew that would get her going. "We'll be back in… about an hour…?" He glanced at Jack.

His Captain nodded, "Probably. If anything comes up, call."

"Erm… sure…" she looked at the woman and boy, but when it became obvious that no explanations were going to be forthcoming, she made her way to the tourist office without further comment.

"You're going to have to tell them," Ianto said quietly after she'd gone. When Ella started to get into the backseat, he offered her the front.

"Are you sure?" she said.

"He's polite, Mom, you'll get used to it," Jack assured her, climbing in behind the wheel.

Ianto chuckled and slid into the back next to Jason.

"And as for telling them…" Jack cast a glance back at his partner, "Do I really have to?"

"Yes, Jack. You were the one who said no more secrets, remember? And even if you hadn't, this isn't the sort of thing you could keep a lid on for very long anyway."

Jack sighed.


	8. Back to Normal

**Chapter Eight: Back to Normal **

* * *

Rather than their usual breakfast spot, which was a little closer to the Millennium Centre than Jack wanted to be just then, he drove to a restaurant near the City Centre where he and Ianto had had lunch a couple of times.

As he drove, he listened to the younger man play enthusiastic tour guide to Jason. He was silently grateful that his partner seemed ok with the situation so far. Once or twice when he glanced back at them in the rear view mirror, Ianto looked his way and smiled that wonderful sweet smile of his and little by little Jack felt as if the knots in his stomach were loosening.

It wouldn't last long, but he was realizing that for the time being he was going to have to take what he could get.

Breakfast, at least, went off without a hitch.

………………………………………….

"There's a lot we need to talk about, Cariad," the younger man said in a soft tone as the last of their plates were cleared away and the waitress refilled their nearly empty coffee cups.

Ella had taken Jason on a clearly fictitious errand to a store a few doors down from the restaurant so they could talk.

Jack nodded, sipping his coffee. "They'll need new birth certificates. I don't trust whatever the Agency set up…"

"That isn't what I'm talking about, Jack."

Reluctantly, he nodded. "Yeah. I know." He didn't meet his partner's gaze. "What… where do you want to go from here?" he asked, because no matter what he wanted, what he _thought_ he wanted, it wasn't just his life they were talking about anymore.

He'd tried to imagine all of his Welshman's possible reactions to him showing at the Hub this morning offering apologies and Starbucks, but so far he'd been completely off the mark with his assumptions. The trend was destined to continue.

Ianto poured some creamer into his cup. "I'm sure you realize that the Hub is no place for a child," he said simply, glancing up at Jack as he stirred his coffee.

Jack blinked at the frankness of his tone. It sounded as if Ianto was just taking it for granted that Jason would end up living with them.

"I'm assuming that's what you wanted," he began in a careful tone when he saw the expression on the older man's face. "Am I… incorrect?" a slight frown tugged at the corners of his mouth. He covered it up by taking a sip of his coffee.

Jack regarded him a moment more before speaking, but he really couldn't make out what Ianto was thinking based on his expression. "I can't make that decision for us. For you." He finally said.

"He's your son. What other decision is there?"

"My mother…" but his partner's expression stopped that sentence dead in his throat. "You really wouldn't mind?" he couldn't help the hopeful tone in his voice. It_ was_ what he wanted, but it wasn't what Ianto had signed on for. "It would be… a huge change… for both of us."

"I know that. But the question isn't do I mind, it's what do you want?"

"No," Jack shook his head. "It's what you want too. We're in this together."

"I want… I want you to be happy. I was happy moving into the Hub with you because I wanted to be with you. I _still _want to be with you," he took a long drink from his cup. "If I didn't, I wouldn't have spent six weeks arguing with caterers and florists and my own mother because she was dead set on a church wedding." He set his mug down. "So I'll ask you again. What do you want?"

"I want to be the kind of father Jason deserves. I'm just not sure I know how," he reached across the table and laid his hands on top of the other man's. "But one thing I do know is that I can't do it alone."

"I promised you the rest of my life. What makes you think I'd back out on that now?"

"When you promised me the rest of your life, you didn't expect an eight year old kid to drop into the picture from three thousand years in the future."

"Jack. I realize we didn't use all the traditional words, but I thought it was implied… richer or poorer, sickness and health and whatever else life throws at us. It's not like you ever lied to me, I knew you had a son. Yes, I thought he was living safe and happy in the fifty first century where you left him, but it's not as if I'm unaware of the possibility of time travel. I'm with _you_. Although this would be a good time to let me know if I should expect any other little surprises."

He smiled despite the knives that had started twisting in his guts again. "No more surprises. At least not like this one."

"No half-alien children going to come claiming paternity?"

"No," but the flippant tone in Ianto's voice told him that things were really going to be all right.

"All right then. It looks like I'm going to need tomorrow afternoon off to start looking at houses," Ianto sipped his coffee. "Assuming aliens don't descent on city hall."

Jack blinked at him again, at the easy way he simply accepted it. "I can help you look for a place…"

The younger man rolled his eyes. "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather you didn't. Once I've narrowed it down to a few choices, then you can come along," he promised. "But not until."

Jack smirked at him, "This isn't because of the bed shopping thing, is it?"

"Why on earth would you think that?" Ianto grinned into his coffee cup.

"Those were all important questions…"

"And I don't need you asking those sorts of important questions to some poor unsuspecting real estate agent. Trust me, Jack, my way will be faster and more painless for everybody."

The older man laughed; mostly he was just relieved it was turning into something Ianto could tease him about because that meant it was_ really_ going to be all right…

"I do have one question for you, though."

"Hmm?" Jack finally drank some of his coffee.

"When I start calling around… how many bedrooms should I say we need?"

"What do you mean…?"

"I mean your mother, Jack."

He opened his mouth and then closed it again, honestly not knowing what to say.

"Even if it's not a permanent situation, she's going to need a place to stay and short of asking my mother to put her up for a while…"

Jack paled.

"That's what I thought."

"I… guess I'd better talk to her. You really won't mind?"

"She's a stranger in this time, of course I don't mind. Of course I should point out that once we've settled into a proper house there will be no keeping my mother from visiting."

Jack groaned.

"Although on the upside, you'll be able to kick me out of work without kicking me out of my own home. You could save a lot of money at the florist's that way," he shot the other man a wry grin to temper the harshness of his words.

"I am sorry," Jack said it again anyway.

He smiled, "I know."

…………………………………………

Jack and Ianto found four sets of eyes focused on them as soon as the door rolled aside to admit them into the Hub.

"All right," Jack announced a little too loudly. "Everybody listen up because I am _only _going to go over this once. I'm sure you've all seen the security footage… or you were sitting around watching the live feed even though I told you to turn it off," he glared around the Hub. "That was my mother. Ella Harkness… that would be Dr. Harkness, to you kids. She's a marine biologist," he added. "She's just relocated to Cardiff. With my son. His name is Jason. He's eight years old. Questions? Good," he said before anyone could actually ask anything. "If anybody needs me, I'll be in my office." He was gone before anyone could even open their mouths to speak.

Ianto sighed… as usual, it looked like it was going to be his job to clean up after Jack…

"Ianto…?" Gwen was the first to speak, but it was Wendy's expression he responded to.

"Everything's fine," he told them.

"She held you at gunpoint," Mickey stated the obvious.

"There was a miscommunication, nothing more," he made his way towards his station, grateful that Bobby at least wasn't asking questions, he was just standing there with the rest of them looking dumbfounded.

A few moments later Wendy set a cup of tea down at his elbow, "Yan?"

"It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure." He swivelled in his chair to look at her, aware of the way the others quickly found something else to look at. "But… if nothing comes up, would you be interested in looking at houses with me tomorrow?"

Her breath caught, "Houses? You... and Jack...?"

Ianto smiled at her. "It's not like we can have an eight year old running around this place."

"No. No, I suppose not..."

* * *

**As always, many, many thanks to those who have reviewed / put this on their alert and / or favourite lists!! **


	9. Family Matters

**Thanks again for the reviews! **

Just another 'fluffy' chapter here… hope you enjoy!

………………………………………**.**

**Chapter Nine: Family Matters**

……………………………………………………

"Jack, I literally have a million things to do tonight. Go have dinner with your mother and Jason."

"Can I at least bring you back something?"

"I'll run up to the diner later on or something… please stop looking at me like that, you've nothing to feel guilty over," he leant in and kissed the other man softly on the lips. "I want you to go have a good time. Just don't stay out all night this time," he teased.

"I won't. Maybe if you get in a nap before I get back…" he gave his partner a suggestive little leer…

Ianto chuckled, "I love you, but I wouldn't count on it."

"Even if I come home with pineapples and whipped cream?"

"We'll see," he was still grinning when Jack finally got out the door.

Ianto poured himself a big cup of coffee and looked around the Hub. There was a part of him that couldn't wait to move into a regular house; there was another part of him that was going to miss this place. He'd never been happier than since he'd moved in here, although he suspected that that had more to do with Jack than anything else.

Myfanwy glided down from her alcove and landed hear him.

"I suppose I'll still have plenty of late nights working, though," he told her, reaching into his desk drawer for a chocolate bar. She only came up to him like this after the others had gone home. He unwrapped the chocolate bar and broke it in half, throwing half of it at a time out onto the floor for her.

As soon as she'd finished her treat, she came to stand over his shoulder and refused to go away until he'd rubbed her head and told her what a good girl she really was. Jack was right, she was spoiled. "But I'm not about to feel guilty over it," he assured the pterodactyl.

She crooned softly in return and stood there while he worked. Ianto created new birth certificates and school records for Ella and Jason, then tracking down the flimsy identities this 'friend' of Jack's had created for them and removed them from the system.

Anyone looking at either Ella or Jason's records twice would have seen their identities as fake. "No wonder this Time Agency is falling apart," he said over his shoulder to the pterodactyl. She made a noise that he took to mean that she agreed… _although it could just be pterodactyl for 'more chocolate you silly ape…' _Ianto chuckled to himself.

Some while later, he realized that his coffee cup was empty and his stomach reminded him that so was his stomach.

He also knew that he should call Nerys or else she might never forgive him… "But how in the world to I explain this one?" he wondered aloud.

Myfanwy didn't seem to have any ideas either.

Just the same, Ianto picked up the phone and dialled his sister's mobile to see if she'd like to go get some dinner with him…

……………………………………………………………

"Where's your husband?" Ella asked, when she opened the hotel room door to admit her son.

"He had a pretty busy night lined up," Jack explained; he'd just barley gotten the first word out, however, when Jason ran up to him. He couldn't help the rush of warmth he felt when his son wrapped his arms around his waist.

Jack knelt and held him in his arms for a long moment, unable to get over the feeling surging through him. There had been so many moments through out the day when he'd expected to wake up and find that the whole thing had been some weird dream.

Somehow Ianto was always there in those moments with a smile or a cup of coffee or some quiet word. He doubted he would have gotten through the day if it weren't for the younger man.

"Would you mind giving us a couple minutes?" He asked his son after he disentangled himself.

The boy gave him a doubtful look, but nodded.

Jack motioned for his mother to step outside with him for a minute; he helped her on with her coat before they went out.

"What is it?" she inquired, her look more doubtful than her grandson's had been.

"Ianto brought up a good point this morning," Jack slid his hands into his pockets and leant up against the wall of the travel lodge, aware of the frown that tugged at the corners of his mother's mouth.

"Oh?"

"My life… our lives… it's not really a good place for… a family. A kid."

Her frown deepened, but she didn't interrupt him.

Jack didn't quite meet her gaze. "I… we… hunt down aliens and alien technology for a living," he reminded her. That might not have been the point Ianto was making after breakfast, but it was something they'd talked about later on in the day. They'd both agreed that there weren't too many solutions to the problem of trying to raise a child while still doing their job.

His mother gave him a long hard look. "So you're backing out, aren't you…running away again? And you want me to cover for you, is that it?" Her tone was cold.

He supposed he deserved that, but that didn't change the fact that it hurt that that was the assumption she immediately jumped to. "No," he met her gaze. "I'm not running out again. I'm just saying that I… we both… we work six, sometimes seven days a week, ten and twelve hour days. The rest of the team puts in the same kinds of hours," he added. "And we can't ask Ianto's family for a lot of help because most of them think we work in a tourist office."

Her frown deepened.

"Torchwood is supposed to be a secret, Mom," he explained. "Nerys… Ianto's sister… knows. She doesn't know about me or where I come from, but she knows what we do. We even introduced her daughter to the pterodactyl."

"The what?"

"A big extinct flying reptile… she came through the rift a few years ago and I guess I adopted her. Ianto's the one who's spoiled her rotten though," he added with a grin, despite the twisting in his gut.

"I see. I think. So what are you saying, if you're not saying you've changed you mind?"

Jack took a breath and let it out again, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "We don't work steady hours. We never will. We can't always be there when Jason gets home from school or even when he gets up in the morning. We've agreed to try," he assured her. "We've agreed that it's important, but the next time some group of corrupt Raxacoricofallapatorians decides to take over city hall, we might end up working late."

"That happens a lot, does it?"

He shrugged. "Cardiff sits on a rift in time and space. We never know what's going to come through."

"Why doesn't one of you just quit?" she inquired.

"I can't. He won't. I wish he would," he added.

"I had gathered that you were his boss. Why don't you just fire him?"

He flashed a wry half-smile, "I thought about it. But it would be unfair for me to force him to stand back and watch the rest of us do what we do every day. We agreed… he made me agree… to just take whatever time we had together and enjoy it. I don't always like it, but I know he's right and I can't ask him to become some kind of house husband just because things have changed. Never mind that he'd probably never speak to me again," he laughed, just a little.

She looked up at him a long moment before reaching out and brushing some of the hair off his forehead, "You're starting to remind me an awful lot of your father. I think he would have liked the man you've turned into. I think he would have liked the man you married, too."

"I wish he was here. Dad, I mean. I wish…" but the tears biting at his eyes made it impossible to finish the sentence.

"He is here," Ella touched her son's chest. "As long as we remember him, he'll always be with us. And he would be proud of you for everything you've accomplished here."

…………………………………………………….

"You look like death warmed over," Nerys greeted her brother when she got to the restaurant, just a few minutes after he'd been seated himself.

He leant over and kissed her cheek, "You have _no_ idea… you just have to promise to keep this to yourself until I get a chance to tell Mam..."

"Tell Mam what?" she slid into the seat opposite him.

"Yesterday Jack's mother showed up at the tourist office unannounced," he said, because this was one of those times when the only way to say something was to just say it. "But that's not the half of it," he continued. "She erm… " he cleared his throat and glanced out the window at the people coming and going along the street. "That is… Jack's ex passed away six months ago…"

"I'm so sorry…"

"That leaves Jack with custody of their eight year old son," he cut her off.

Nerys's eyes widened. "Oh. My. God," she breathed. "Oh my fucking …"

"Nerys," he didn't quite snap, but he recognized the look of anger in his sister's eyes and needed to stop her right there. "I _knew_ Jack had a son."

Her brows furrowed. "You_ …? _Why didn't you say something?"

"Jack hasn't seen him in five years. He never expected this to happen." He stirred his coffee.

"Oh this is_ so_ like a man…!"

"Erm, Nerys,_ I'm_ a man."

"No you're not… I mean… of course you are, but you're my brother and this is just… a son? Your husband has a son and you never thought to mention it?"

Ianto shrugged, "It's a part of his past. I didn't think it would ever matter to out lives now."

She studied him for a long, long moment. She was still studying him when the waitress came to take their order and she didn't speak again until after she had her tea. "Are you ok?" was all she asked.

"I was pretty thrown at first," he admitted. "Just don't tell Jack because he was so thrown off balance I was trying not to look like I was too because one of us had to be level headed."

Nerys couldn't help but laugh at him, "I can almost picture it, you know. You both sweating buckets… "

He smiled, "I'm sure in a couple of years we're both going to look back on this morning and laugh. But the truth was that last night when he didn't come home… it's all right," he told his sister. "He was with them… and anyway, it's pretty daft to be jealous of someone who's dead." Which didn't mean he didn't feel a twinge of jealousy for someone who had shared something as intimate with Jack as the birth of their child. "I erm… that is… I'm sure it'll come up, so I should probably just tell you so you're not surprised later… this ex… Roan… is… was… a man."

She frowned, "But… Jason…?"

"Is biologically Jack's." Which of course was the truth and there was no reason to explain to Nerys that so was Roan.

"You can't expect me not to keep this to myself for long. And you'd better not expect me not to be a little bit mad at Jack for doing this to you."

"I'll talk to Mam soon, I promise. I just have to get some other things settled first."

"If there's anything I can do to help…" she offered.

"Thanks. I may take you up on that."

…………………………………………………………..

Jack wasn't surprised to find Ianto waiting up for him, when he finally got home a little after midnight. "Pineapples and whipped cream?" he offered, holding up the white plastic bag.

Ianto laughed, "Maybe. But… I'd like to talk first."

The older man nodded. He'd been waiting for this all day.

He slipped out of his coat, draping it over a chair and then pulled off his boots before settling onto the sofa next to Ianto. The younger man moved so that they were curled up together like two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly. "What do you want to know?" Jack asked him.

"Tell me about Jason's other father."

Jack sighed and was quiet for a long moment; he'd hoped that all his partner would want to know about was how he and Roan had managed to have a child together. That he could answer. This was a lot harder. "I can't say anything about him that won't make me look like heel," he finally admitted.

"You were a different person back then."

The older man shrugged. He didn't think that was much of an excuse. "Roan… Roan Sanders, by the way… He was a librarian, if you can picture it," he almost rolled his eyes. "Me and a guy who spent his whole day around books," he pulling Ianto a little closer. "He was quiet. Sweet. I remember… I remember he had a thing or two to say about me and my dust bunnies too," he smiled as the memory drifted back... the first time Roan had been to his apartment... it had turned into a good night, but not before Roan had had a few choice thigns to say about his housekeeping skills. "I have no idea what he saw in me but I remember… he made me laugh. He should've made me happy… He did make me happy, I just… I didn't see it. I _couldn't_ see it. But when he asked me for Jason… I guess I felt like I owed him something, for everything I'd put him through. He was always there when I needed somebody, he never complained or asked for more, and I couldn't even remember what he looked like until I saw the picture he gave Jason of the three of us." And it hurt...

"It was a long time ago."

"But I don't ever want to forget what _you_ look like," Jack's voice was laced with pain. "I want to remember your eyes," he brushed his fingers against Ianto's eyelids and his lips, "And your smile… I want to remember what you look like when I first wake up and see you sleeping there next to me. I want to remember those beautiful Welsh vowels."

Ianto leant up and kissed him. "You're going to forget my eyes, Cariad… my smile… You'll even forget what I look like in that UNIT cap," he teased. "And you'll probably forget all about those beautiful Welsh vowels, too. But I know you won't forget _me_."

Jack leant in and kissed him again, fiercely, never wanting to forget how good it felt to be like this, to fit so perfectly with someone...


	10. Cariad

Because I don't want this to turn into T**he Story That Never Ends, t**his is the official last instalment of **Family Matters**… but please look to my **Short Stories **for Jack and Ianto's **Adventures In House Hunting** (which has been written and will be put up shortly… ) and Jack explaining to Ianto that if Ella _doesn't _hear them having sex on a regular basis, she'll think there's a serious problem in their marriage.

I hope ending this only to pick it up in **Short Stories** doesn't confuse or upset anybody, but I've got another piece on another board that turned into **The Story That Never Ended** and it stopped being fun after a while. I don't want that to happen here.

There are more stories and adventures in store for Jack, Ianto, Jason and Torchwood... and eventually Captain John Hart is coming back, too, but that plot has to be _just right_... ;-)

_Thank you again for all the lovely reviews... I hope this doesn't disappoint... I'll admit it up front, I'm a sap, I'd always planned this because I love Jack and Ianto together..._

* * *

**Epilogue:**

**Cariad**

_"To Live, to Love, To Remember, To Love Again."_

* * *

Three thousand years ago, a man named Ianto Jones had told him that he was going to live forever, therefore, he could, if he wanted to, show up on his mother's doorstep the day after he'd left her.

He hadn't done that. He couldn't. If he did, she would never have ended up in the twenty-first century and that had already happened, at least for him. Jack (although he didn't go by that name any more) had found out the hard way that paradox _hurt_. (It hadn't felt so good when the Doctor laid into him over it, either. All things considered, he'd take paradox over an irate Time Lord any century.)

Which is why he knew_ this_ was a mistake. But he owed a man something, even if it was just the apology that he never expected would be accepted.

So in the middle of the night, when he was sure no one would see him, he walked up to Roan Sanders' door and knocked. When the other didn't answer straight away, he knocked again, harder.

Finally a light flickered on in an upstairs window. Some long moments later a sleepy looking man with tussled red-blond hair opened the door wearing only his gold rimmed glasses and pyjama bottoms. Jack had only barely remembered what he looked like, but seeing him again, he felt recognition surge deep inside him and he couldn't help but smile.

Roan was lithe and pale and every bit as handsome as Jack had been sure he must be. Well... handsome in a bookish sort of way, anyway. He looked like a librarian even standing there in nothing more than pyjama bottoms and glasses.

"Bloody Hell," Roan muttered on seeing who was on the other side of his door; he stepped aside to let the other man in. "Only you would turn up at… " he glance around for the clock, "Two in the morning."

"And only you would let me in," Jack quipped back, continuing to smile.

"No arguments there. Coffee?"

"Sure." Jack followed him into the kitchen. It had been ages since he'd had good coffee… not that he could remember whether or not Roan's coffee was any good. "I ah… I can't stay long, though."

Roan just shook his head with a shy, sad smile. "You never can. Jason's with your mother for the night. Sorry you missed him."

Jack shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "How old is he these days?"

"Six," he said as he started the coffee. "Would you like to see a picture?"

Jack took a breath and let it out. If Jason was six, that meant it had been three years since Roan had seen him last, but here they were, just like always, with Roan not even asking where he'd been or how long he planned to stick around. _What did I ever do to deserve this guy, _he wondered. Who else would let him in at two o'clock in the morning, no questions asked, and make him coffee? "I'm sorry, Roan."

His tone caused the other man to turn around; it had been a very, very long time since he'd heard that kind of sincerity out of the man standing there, looking at him with those big beautiful blue eyes… eyes filled with so much hurt… so much… so much_ love_… more love than he'd ever seen there before… It made him forget how angry he was. How much it hurt to have him here again... and yet the last three years had been even worse. It had never been so long between unexpected visits. He'd honestly almost given up ever seeing his son's other father again.

"I ... I know I put you through Hell," Jack went on. "I can't make it up to you, but I promise, I'll make it up to Jason some day. I'll be there for him. I…" he had to stop a collect himself. He'd buried their son so long ago… "I know I made mistakes. I don't ever expect you to forgive me… but… I _**am **_sorry."

Roan studied him a moment, looking for some clue as to how long it had really been because he knew one of the things about being with a Time Agent was that they would always live on different timelines. What was a day for one might be a year for the other. "How long has it been, your timeline, since you saw us?" he asked. The unshed tears in those blue eyes were unmistakable. It wasn't a side of his partner he saw very often, even when he was around.

"Too long."

Roan crossed the distance between them and leant in, not surprised when the other man met his kiss half way. His kiss felt different though. It was hesitant. Reserved. Usually when he showed up in the middle of the night like this was for nothing more than a romp in the sheets.

Roan slid his arms around his partner's waist, coaxing him to do the same, coaxing him to return the kiss a little more. "It doesn't matter," he said softly, when their lips finally parted. "You know I'll always forgive you. Always love you. I have never minded not being your first choice, Cariad."

Jack stumbled backwards away from his grasp. "What did you just call me?"

"Cariad…?" His tone was incredulous… more than that, there was a deep hurt in his emerald eyes. "I've always called you that." Roan turned to get the coffee. He got down two mugs, "Do you still take it the same?" he asked without looking at the other man.

"Yeah. Yeah, I still take it the same." Jack steadied himself against the table while Roan fixed his cup. _Cariad..._ Ianto... Kam... Gary... even so, it had been over five hundred years since anyone... was it possible... was Roan...?

"You really don't remember, do you?" the young librarian asked as he handed over one of the mugs. Some of his hurt eased when he realized just how rattled the other man really was.

Jack just shook his head. Roan moved back towards the living room and he followed. He stood there while Roan walked up to the bookshelf and got down a book. He handed it over, "Remember now?" he asked.

Jack frowned. "The Collected Works of... of Johan Cariad…" he read the title aloud, but it still didn't ring any bells.

Roan sighed. "I was working in the University Library." He gave the man standing in front of him another long look before continuing in a softer tone because that look of ignorance didn't seem feigned. "One day I looked up and in walked the most amazing man I'd ever seen… that would be you," he said with a smile, although the other's smirk told him that he'd figured that part out. He used to being the amazing man in the story and Roan knew it. "I'm sure you didn't notice me at all," he added. "Even though you asked me find you that."

Jack blushed. He vaguely remembered that he hadn't noticed anybody special. "I needed it for a class," he said, remembering finally. It had been so long ago...

"From that day onwards you were 'that gorgeous guy who reads Cariad'… eventually it just got shortened to Cariad. And this _isn't_ the first time I've told you that story." He took the book from his partner's hand and set it back in the bookcase, carefully, precisely lined up with the edge of shelf. "Or don't you remember that, either?"

Jack looked down into the coffee; he took an experimental sip. It was good. _Really_ good. "I'm sorry," was all he could say. This wasn't the first time someone had reminded him of his Welshman, but… _Roan?_ He looked up at the ginger haired man standing across from him as if seeing him for the first time… which after over five thousand years his time wasn't entirely inaccurate. It would certainly explain a lot if it really was him…_ if_… he reminded himself. Cariad could just be a stupid coincidence and Roan could just have rotten a taste in men to have fallen for someone like him, to have stuck it out this long.

Roan leant up against the side of the book shelf regarding him for several long moments. "So how long are you staying this time?" he finally asked, in a carefully neutral tone.

The question caught Jack off guard, but then he realized what the other man really meant. This was Roan, the constant 'fall-back' lover, the one he only came to when his other plans had fallen through. The one he shagged and left. "I… really shouldn't even be here at all," he admitted, suddenly realizing how much he wanted to stay.

"But you are here," the younger man's tone and the expression on his face made the invitation clear.

Jack set down the coffee cup and crossed the distance between them.

He shouldn't be here.

But he was. And the invitation was clear.

He found those lips again and pulled Roan close. The younger man yielded to him without hesitation. It wasn't just the way he kissed him, his whole body melted towards Jack's…his scent overwhelmed the older man... the way he felt against him... like two pieces of the same puzzle or finding something that had been lost... "Oh God, I love you so much…" he whispered into the other man's ear without thinking, without realizing he'd never said those words to Roan ever before.

Underneath him, Roan shuddered at the words, kissed him harder, pulled him closer.

Roan's touch… his scent… everything about him came back to Jack in a rush and he wanted to prove to him how much he really meant… "I am so sorry… all the times I hurt you…"

"Shhh… it doesn't matter, Cariad. You're here now and you know I'll take whatever you have to give..."

Jack yielded as strong, steady hands undressed him. It wasn't long before they were in the middle of the floor reacquainting themselves with the intimate details of each other's bodies… and it was a long time before they were done because no matter how much he wished otherwise, Jack knew he only had this one night to make up for all those other nights, this one chance to prove to Roan that he loved him… If he stayed longer, he knew he'd end up dealing with paradox or worse changing history. Again.

It was nearly dawn when he pulled Roan into his arms and held him there, his back propped up against the sofa. He kissed him again, softly, running his fingers over the younger man's face, trying to take in every detail is if he would never forget it.

He knew he would forget. In a hundred years all he'd see were green eyes… a shy smile… that amazing scent... fifty first century pheromones at their best... a hundred years after that and he'd forget Roan's scent... his eyes... his smile… but he would remember Roan's name. He would remember that he'd loved him. He would remember what was important.

Roan looked up at him and smiled because for the first time he could remember, _everything_ felt exactly right. This was the way it was _supposed_ to be, the way he'd always known it would be if he just held out long enough. From the very first moment he'd laid eyes on the man holding him now, he had known that _this_ was what he wanted and he would wait...he would wait as long as it took... "I love you," he ventured. It wasn't the first time he'd said the words, but up until a few hours ago the sentiment had never been returned.

"I love you too," Jack told him without reservation. "I love you _so_ much," he placed a soft kiss on the top of the other man's head.

"Will you stay this time?" Roan was almost afraid to ask, but… but it was like everything finally fit…"Please…? I'm not asking for anything special… just… just move back in with me… with us... we can make this work." He didn't care how undignified it was to beg. "You know I'd do anything for you..."

"I can't."

He turned away, trying to hide how much those two words hurt… he always left, why should this time be any different… ? Just because it _felt _different… just because he'd finally admitted… just because the thought of being apart was so wrong…

"Roan, look at me," Jack coaxed his head back up even though it killed him to see the tears in his lover's eyes. "I love you. Oh God, I love you and I have missed you so much. I will _**always**_ love you."

"But you'll never stay…"

"I can't. If I did it would change _everything_."

"Why? What would it change?"

"Everything," he repeated. Crossed timelines, paradoxes… the chance that things might not happen the way they already had… "But… I promise… the next time it'll be different," he swore, because he knew now it wasn't a stupid coincidence. Roan might still have terrible taste in men to have stuck it out this long, but the rest of it wasn't a coincidence.

In the last three thousand years Jack had learned that there truly were more things in Heaven and Earth than he'd ever dreampt of... and it was almost ironic that his Welshman had once said how he gave him hope and now it was the other way around. "You give my life meaning," he whispered softly, pulling the other man into another kiss. "You make me whole. I will never, ever forget you and I will keep every promise I have **_ever _**made. I'll even remember that you love pineapple," he smiled despite the fact that he was losing his struggle against the tears.

"That would be a first," Roan chuckled softly through his own tears, "You've never managed to remember that until now."

Gently, he wiped the other man's cheeks. "You are the best thing that _ever_ happened to me. It just took me a while to figure that out. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry we can't have more time this time… I'm sorry I wasted so much time with you, but next time will be better. I promise… if you give me a chance, _I'll_ be better."

Roan studied the face of the man holding him, so familiar and so foreign and yet everything still felt right… it felt ok… it didn't even feel like goodbye, even though it sounded like it. He reached up and wiped away the tears from the other man's cheeks. He ran his fingers through the unruly dark hair… he noticed that there were more greys than he remembered… he noticed the lines around the other man's eyes that he was sure hadn't been there before. "I'm not really going to see you again, am I?" he asked at last.

"No. But we are _**not **_over." Jack leant in and kissed him fiercely. "If you come back for me… if… if you can forgive me for everything I did wrong here… I'll wait for you. You're worth waiting for. You're worth… you're worth _everything_."

"I'll always forgive you, Cariad. I love you too much not to." _I will love you forever..._

* * *

_If you wait for me then I'll come for you  
Although I've travelled far  
I always hold a place for you in my heart  
If you think of me If you miss me once in awhile  
Then I'll return to you  
I'll return and fill that space in your heart  
Remembering  
Your touch  
Your kiss  
Your warm embrace  
I'll find my way back to you  
If you'll be waiting  
If you dream of me like I dream of you  
In a place that's warm and dark  
In a place where I can feel the beating of your heart _

Remembering  
Your touch  
Your kiss  
Your warm embrace  
I'll find my way back to you  
If you'll be waiting  
I've longed for you and I have desired  
To see your face your smile  
To be with you wherever you are

Remembering  
Your touch  
Your kiss  
Your warm embrace  
I'll find my way back to you  
If you'll be waiting  
I've longed for you and I have desired  
To see your face, your smile  
To be with you wherever you are

Remembering  
Your touch  
Your kiss  
Your warm embrace  
I'll find my way back to you  
Please say you'll be waiting

Together again  
It would feel so good to be  
In your arms  
Where all my journeys end  
If you can make a promise If it's one that you can keep, I vow to come for you  
If you wait for me and say you'll hold  
A place for me in your heart.

-- by Tracy Chapman

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_**The first time I heard this song, I thought of Jack to Ianto… but then I realized how easily it could be turned around, as Ianto to Jack… **_


End file.
